The Mission: Save Private Ryan
by HornyBear.x
Summary: The squad is sent on a mission to save Private James Ryan, with an extra member... Chrissie Lewis. Very close to the movie with a twist.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One - Omaha Beach

Blue eyes scanned over the surrounding men, sea sickness was claiming a vast number of them. The small solider cringed as the vomit hit the steel floor and made a trail towards the door of the boat they were on. They were preparing for the perils of landing on Omaha beach, knowing that the Germans were waiting to unleash hell on them.

The eyes landed on Captain John Miller and watched as he took a long drink from his canteen, his right hand shaking.

Feeling a pair of eyes on him Miller looked up meeting the gaze of Private Lewis, he allowed a small smile and a nod before looking away. Lewis was one of his best, a good soldier with a great mind. Miller was fond of Lewis and a smile lifted the corner of his lips as he remembered the day he found out the big secret of Private Chris Lewis, he remembered the shock, the arguments, but also the joy. Chrissie Lewis was a normal 19 year old girl living in Brooklyn, she had everything. A great job, a great family and the best friend a girl could ask for - Richard Reiben. Shortly after her birthday news arrived of the war and Richard was deployed. Cutting her hair Chrissie managed to work her way through basics and became a solider. She kept her secret for many months until she saw Richard who immediately recognised her eyes and destroyed her secret. Captain Miller and the rest of the squad became increasingly used to having a woman around, many looked at her as a sister and Reiben was over-joyed at being united with his best friend again. With much persuasion Miller was able to get Lewis transferred to Charlie company where she currently was sitting waiting to storm the beach. The long blonde hair she had to cut for basics had since grown out and flew wildly around her face in the wind. Her face was soft with eyelids closed hiding blue eyes as she thought about her squad, her brothers. She knew storming the beach was near suicide, that most of the men wouldn't make it out of the water, but she had hope that she'd be reunited with the men that mean the most to her. A voice broke through her thoughts and her eyes snapped open.

"Clear the ramp. 30 seconds. God be with you."

Lewis listened closely along with the men around her to the breif being given by Miller and Horvath.

"Port side, stick. Starboard side, stick. Move fast and clear those murder holes."

"I wanna see plenty of beach between men. Five men is an opportunity. One man is a waste of ammo."

"Keep the sand out of you weapons. Keep those actions clear." Miller's eyes locked with Chrissie's as he voiced the last order. "I'll see you on the beach."

He would see her on the beach, she would make it up there. She was strong, a fighter, as was the rest of the squad. Unlike some people, she had one thing. Hope.

A hand grasped Chrissie's and upon feeling the long slim fingers she knew exactly who is was, Private Daniel Jackson. Their eyes locked and he squeezed her hand, a small smile flickered over both faces and for just a moment they were in their own world together, just the two of them. Bringing her hand up to his lips he kissed a finger softly, giving one last squeeze before letting go. Chrissie watched as he pulled the cross from around his neck, kissed it and whispered prayers.

"Open motor holes." A voice screamed bringing Chrissie back to reality as bullets rained down upon them.

"Over the side!" Miller ordered and Chrissie took once last look at Jackson before throwing herself into the ice cold water. She hit the bottom hard and panic overtook her as she struggled to get to the surface. Her pack was weighing her down, with the water stinging her eyes and not much breath left Chrissie finally managed to release herself and rise to the surface. A gasp of air was all she got before she felt someone grab her arm and pull her along.

Bullets flew past her head but she had no time to think as the man in front pulled her forward. The solider fell taking Chrissie with him and as she was once again submerged under water she saw the red liquid pouring from the wound in his forehead. Chrissie pulled herself back up and continued moving forward

She finally reached the beach and immediately wished she was back home. Bodies were everywhere, blood stained the water red. Suddenly, all the hope she had been habouring had disappeared. She wouldn't make it. They were fighting a loosing battle.

Miller fell to his knees. He had made it through the water, unlike many of his men. Soldiers were dropping all around him, some crying, praying, giving up. He couldn't give up, as he scanned the beach his eyes landed on Lewis, he could see she'd had enough. He needed to get to her. Since she joined the company she had been like the daughter she never had. He couldn't lose her.

"I said, what the hell do we do now, Sir?" a solider screamed at Miller, breaking him out of his trance.

"Captain Miller! Captain Miller!" Horvath was near. He needed to get the men off the beach.

"Sergant Horvath. Get your men off the beach. Go!"

Horvath nodded in Miller's direction and looked to the soldiers gathered. "Ok, you guys! Get on my ass! Follow me!"

Back with Miller someone asked where the rallying point was. Miller looked around, "Anywhere but here!" he shouted back before moving towards Chrissie. He saw her fall to her knees.

"Lewis, get up! MOVE!"

Chrissie looked up at the sound of her name and saw the Captain struggling to get to her. He was going to get hurt. He was going to get hurt trying to save her. This realisation gave her new motivation. She wouldn't let him down. She couldn't.

Pushing herself to her feet glanced around before running to meet him.

"What the hell do you think you were doing Chris! Come on, Go!"

Once again, Chrissie found herself being pulled up the beach, the bullets still raining down. Miller dragged Chrissie along til they reached a group of soliders, dropping to the floor he surveyed the situation.

"The sea wall. Move up to the sea wall!"

"Sir, I'm staying!" one of the soldiers agrued. Miller heard the distress in his voice.

"Clear this beach! Make way for the others!" Miller ordered.

Still the soldier agrued. "This is all we got!"

Miller had enough. "Every inch of this beach has been pre-sighted! You stay here, you're a dead man!"

Chrissie followed Miller up the beach, letting out a sob as she passed a friend, Jack. He was trying to hold his internal organs in his stomach. Tears escaped her eyes as he yelled for his Mama. She couldn't help him. No-one could.

Miller and Chrissie came across another group of gathered soliders.

"What are you guys?" Miller asked.

"104th Medical Battalion, sir!" was the reply. "Here to set up field operations!"

"Get rid of that crap! Grab yourself some weapons. Follow us!"

Chrissie looked around her and saw a dead soldier with a rifle hanging around his neck. Gently she pulled the rifle out and handed it to one of the medics.

"Come on, guys! We've got to move!" She shouted moving up to flank Miller.

As they moved, Chrissie heard a voice that made her stop.

"Captain! Briggs!" Miller looked around, spotting Briggs laying on the floor.

"Briggs!" a squad member and a good friend, Miller and Lewis rushed to his side.

"Get me out of here! I'm hit low. God!" He screamed in pain as Lewis grabbed his face.

"Briggs, look, look at me. You're going to be fine. I promise. You're gonna be ok. Medic!" Crissie's eyes searched frantically for a solider with a cross on his helmet.

"Chris!" Briggs screamed, grabbing her arm. She once again screamed for help.

"MEDIC!"

A soldier approached the trio.

"Navy Beach Battalion, Sir! I've got to clear these obstacles for the tanks."

"All the armour's foundering in the channel!" Miller pointed.

The solider shrugged. "Orders, sir. You go somewhere else. I'm clearing this one!"

Miller turned to his two soliders. "Chris, grab his arm."

Miller and Lewis continued making their way up the beach, pullinf Briggs with them.

"Medic!" Chrissie screamed as they went. "Where the hell is Wade? MEDIC!"

Behind them an explosion erupted, knocking them to their knees.

"NO!" Chrissie screamed as she saw Briggs's legs had been taken off! "NO!"

"Lewis, get yourself together. Lets move!" Miller odered pulling her along.

They ran towards the sea wall, and threw themselves against it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two - Rallying

Miller pulled a soldier over.

"Shore party. No armour has made it ashore. We got no DD tanks. Dog one is not open!"

"Who's in command here?" Miller asked.

"You are, sir!" a solider replied. Chrissie watched as soldier were shot down in the attempt to reach the wall. She prayed that the guys were alright.

Miller recognised the man to his left. "Sergant Horvath."

"Sir."

"You recognised where we are?"

"Right where we're supposed to be, but no one else is!"

"Well that's relieving!" Chrissie added in a sarcastic tone.

"Nobody's where they're supposed to be!" A solider screamed.

Miller rolled back over. "Shore party. First wave, ineffective. We do not hold the beach. Say again, we do not hold the beach."

More soldiers joined the group at the wall. "Sir, we got leftovers from Fox Company, Able Company and George Company!"

"Plus we got some Navy Demo guys and a Beachmaster!"

Miller rolled over again "Shore party." Miller broke off as he saw the solider's face was no longer attached.

Chrissie smiled as she recognised the pair running up the beach. "Brooklyn!" She screamed, "Over here!"

"Reiben here, sir!"

"Anybody else?" Horvath asked.

"Jackson but that's about it!" Chrissie's heart soared at the mention of the name, he was still alive.

"Mellish here!"

Another solider jumped next to Chrissie and she sighed in relief as he smiled at her.

"Caparzo. DeForest's back with Wade. He's hurt so bad he says he sprung 100 leaks. Wade says he's all used up."

"Get his attention!" Miller ordered.

"WADE! WADE!" The squad screamed. They knew it was no help, there was no way Wade would leave a wounded man without being forced.

"Yo, Doc!" Reiben yelled and Chrissie smiled. Her best friend was next to her, he was still there.

"Chris I'm not being funny, but I don't think that now is the right time for you to stare at me like I'm a god. Let's do it later, yeah?"

Chrissie chuckled and punched his shoulder, hard.

"God damn it, Chrissie! That hurt!"

Chrissie smiled sweetly at the New York native before turning to listen to the Captain.

"Get him off the beach. Reiben, Lewis go!" Miller ordered, he couldn't lose another man.

Reiben and Lewis ran forward, as they approached the medic they could hear Wade.

"We got it! We stopped the bleeding!"

Just then another bullet punctured the wounded solider. "Fuck!" Wade screamed. "Just give us a fucking chance, you son of a bitch!"

"Wade!" Chrissie grabbed his arm. "Come on!"

"You son of a fucking cocksucker!" Wade was still screaming profanities.

"Come on Wade, it's Chrissie! Come on!"

"We found Miller! Let's move! Let's move!" Reiben grabbed Wade's pack and they made their way back to the wall.

"This is all? This is all that's made it?" Miller asked looking around.

"We got scattered pretty bad, sir. There's bound to be more." Horvath answered.

"Not enough. This is not enough." Miller replied in a hushed voice to Horvath who was scanning the area in front of them.

"Dog one exit. On the right. Or is it left? Shit!"

Miller silenced him. "No, Viervville is west of us. This is Dog One."

"They're killing us! And we don't have a fucking chance and that ain't fair!" a solider exclaimed.

"Gather weapons and ammo!" Miller ordered.

"Gather weapons and ammo!" The order echoed down the line of soliders.

"Come on," Horvath instructed. "Drag 'em in off the sand!"

Soliders ran from the wall to collect the weapons. Chrissie stayed by the wall clutching her rifle tightly.

"Hey Rieben, Reiben, Rieben. Where's you BAR?" Horvath asked.

Reiben answered. "Bottom of the channel, sir. Bitch tried to drown me!" Chrissie would have laughed if she wasn't in the situation she was in.

"Find a replacement!" Horvath orderd. Reiben prepared to move out, Chrissie placed a hand on his arm. Reiben looked round at her.

"Be careful" she told him. He covered her hand with his.

"Always am." He ran off to find a BAR whilst Miller shouted more orders.

"Bangalores! Bring up some bangalores!"

"Bangalore up the line! Bangalores up the line!"

"Heads up" Horvath warned. "Bangers coming your way!"

Chrissie breathed a breath of relief as she saw the two most important men in her life jump back against the wall.

"Jackson here, sir."

"Reiben back, sir!"

Reiben prepared his weapon as Jackson reached over and placed a hand on Chrissie's cheek, silently communicating with his eyes before rolling over and preparing his own weapon.

The solider next to Chrissie yelped in surprise as a bullet bounced off of his helmet.

"Jesus! Lucky Bastard!" Caparzo chuckled, patting the soilder on the back before returning to his task. Chrissie watched the young man remove his helmet in fascination and then fall to the floor, blood streaming from a hole in his head.

"Bangalores! Clear the shingle!" Miller shouted loud and clear.

"Fire in the hole!" Reiben screamed.

"Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole!"

Jackson grabbed Chrissie and pushed her down, covering her body with his. The explosion kicked debris up and it soared in the air. The smoke provided some sort of cover for the soldiers.

"We're in business! Defilade! Other side of the hole!" Horvath shouted. Jackson pulled Chrissie up with him and held on tightly to her arm as they scrambled to the other side of the hole, narrowly avoiding the bullets.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three - Breakthrough

Soliders piled in against the wall and Chrissie was pushed on top of Mellish. "Fuck, I can't move." he complained.

"Sorry! At least Carpy's not the one sitting on you!" Chrissie joked, and chuckled when she heard Caparzo yell in objection from somewhere down the line.

Miller was attaching a mirror to a knife, putting it just beyond the wall.

"Two MG-42s and two mortars. Add 20, left 30." Miller passed the mirror to Horvath who crawled past him further into the open.

"There's a little defilade over there, but it's the perfect fire position if we get some god damn armour off the beach." Horvath reported.

"We gotta open up this draw, get this draw open!"

"Reiben, Mellish! Lets get into the war! Grab some cover and put some fire on that crew!" He ordered, Chrissie nodded to the two men as they passed her.

"Davis, DeBernardo, Young, Valk, get ready." The men gathered.

"Covering fire!"

"Go, go, go!" Miller ordered as the men ran past.

"Its like a god damn firing squad." Horvath complained.

Miller looked back into the mirror. "It's the only way we can get everybody the hell out of here."

Chrissie watched as the next batch of men were ordered up. "Short, Payton, McDonald, Parkes! You're next!"

She listened to Horvarth complaining and watched as Miller and the squad provided covering fire for the men. Chrissie spotted Jackson who was watching the left side and approached him.

"Hey" she greeted.

"Hey you" he smiled quickly before returning to watching the surrounding area, using his sniper senses.

"Umm, I need to say something." Chrissie layed a hand on his shoulder and felt the muscles tensed tightly underneath the layers Jackson wore.

"Go ahead."

"Well you know when we were talking on the way over here, I really don't want to get married on a beach any more." Chrissie watched his face.

Jackson chuckled at her statement and turned to look her in the eyes. "Me neither. I've had enough of beaches to last a life time." He pulled her towards him and placed a chaste kiss on her lips which left her head spinning. "Now, I really think we should leave the wedding plans to a time when we aren't in a life or death situation!"

"I love you," Chrissie whispered.

"I love you too baby." Jackson replied before taking watch again.

"Jackson" Miller called. Jackson turned and crawled over to the Captain, squeezing Chrissie's leg as he past.

"Sir."

"See that impact crater?" Miller asked holding the mirror.

"Yes, sir."

"That should give you complete cover from that machine gun position. Get in there and give me some fire." Miller looked to Chrissie as she watched on. "Lewis, go with Jackson, give him cover." Miller ordered.

Jackson pulled Chrissy to her feet taking her in a quick embrace before moving over to the right side of the wall.

"You two wait for my command." Jackson pulled his cross from around his neck and kissed it before locking eyes with Chrissy, communicating with her the words he wanted to say, 'I love you'.

"GO!" Miller's voice rang through to the two soldiers and they ran forward. Crissie felt bullets coming down everywhere, hitting the ground where her feet ran and whizzing past her head but she kept running, her eyes fixed on the man in front of her.

Falling into the crater, Jackson quickly pulled the sniper rifle from his next and set up aim. Chrissie's rifle was already firing, giving him the cover he needed.

"Be not thou far from me, O Lord." Jackson prayed as a shot rang across the beach and the German who controlled one of the machine guns fell to the ground below.

Jackson lined up the next shot. "All my strength haste Thee to help me." Another shot rang out and the sand bags fell allowed Reiben and the rest of the guys below to take fire on the falling Krauts.

Miller watched as his men fired on the German. "Dog One exit! Right here!" He screamed to the remaining soldiers on the beach.

"We're in business," Horvath informed. "Move, move!"

The soldiers moved forward quickly, the bullets still coming. Jackson and Lewis ran and joined the rest of the squad from the right, firing the remaining Germans as they ran.

Moving into the camp the squad took cover behind a wall near a bunker.

"Reiben," Horvath called. Reiben pulled a grenade from his pocket and passed it to the Sarge who threw it and took cover with the rest of the squad.

As soon as they heard the explosion the soldiers were on they're feet with their weapons ready, waiting for the Germans to expose themselves. Three krauts were shot before Miller called in Doyle with a flame thrower.

Doyle aimed down the hall way to the bunker and looked to Miller for conformation. "Do it!" Miller ordered.

On the beach the soliders looked up at the bunker which was now engulfed in fire. German soliders through themselves out and rolled on the floor desperately attempting to put out the flames. Weapons were raised in preperation but a voiced screamed "Don't shoot! Let 'em burn!" and the weapons were once again lowered as the soldiers watched the Germans burn.

Grenades were exploded everywhere and shots flew back and forth from the American's and the remaining Germans. The squad moved towards the trenches, shooting at the fleeing Krauts.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" Sergant Horvath ordered once he was sure the soldiers in the trench were dead. Caparzo looked for more orders before jumping down into the enemies trench.

Chrissie was crouched next to Mellish watching the remaining Germans being shot down when Caparzo re-appeared.

"Hey, Fish."

"Yeah?" Mellish and Chrissie looked towards Carpy.

"Look at this. A Hitler Youth knife." Caparzo handed the knife to Mellish, who looked at the knife with a chuckle.

"And now it's a Shabbat Challan cutter, right?" Chrissie caught his gaze momentarily before he turned away from his fellow soldiers and sat on the floor, sobbing. Chrissie shared a worried glance with Carparzo, who was still standing in the trench. Placing a hand on her leg, he squeezed her calf and they shared a sad smile as they watched their Jewish friend grieve.

Once Chrissie was sure that Mellish has gathered himself together and that Carpy was keeping an eye on him, she moved towards the edge of the bank which overlooked the beach. Bodies floating in the red sea, bodies of her friends. A tear rolled down her cheek as she remembered Jack's screams, so much pain, so much despair.

"You ok?" Chrissie looked up at the man who was always there for her.

"No, Reiben this whole thing is so messed up. I keep seeing Jack, lying there, crying, scream…" Chrissie broke down sobbing. Reiben didn't speak as he pulled the young woman against his chest. He understood her well enough to know that there was nothing he could say to console her, he just had to be there. Be strong for her. After a few minutes the sobbing subsided.

"I love you so much, you know that?" Chrissie asked, her voice coarse from crying.

"I know, Ris. I love you too," Reiben rubbed her back. 'More than you'll ever know' ran through his head. His heart swelled as she looked up at him, eyes glistening with tears as she placed a kiss on his temple. She really was the most beautiful girl he knew.

She wiped her eyes, dirt streaking across her face. Jumping up she grabbed Reibens hands and pulled him with her.

"I've gotta find Jackson." She said pulling him into a tight hug. Reiben rolled his eyes at the mention of his fellow soldiers name. They pulled apart and Reiben sighed as he watched her run off to find her lover.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys, quick thank you to those of you that have reviewed! Your positive comments mean a lot of me :) This is my first attempt at pretty much writing anything, so I know my grammar and spelling and all that is crap (I'm not very good at English!) so I apologise for those mistakes! Any ways, heres another chapter. I'm having such a blast writing this :) Love to you all xxx**

Chapter Four - A Public Relations Mission

Chrissie took a long drink from her canteen, the sun was shining down on the group of soldiers lounging on the ground. She played absentmindly with the hands rested on her stomach, twirling the ring on the fourth finger of the right hand.

"Where did you get this?" Chrissie asked, craning her neck to look at the man sitting behind her.

Jackson looked at the ring and replied "My father gave it to me. It was his wedding band. I have my mothers in my pocket, they gave them to me the day I left. Said I should return them when I came home. I think its their way of supporting me, ya know? They've got complete faith in the fact that I'll come home." Jackson's eyes clouded with emotion as he spoke of his parents and Chrissie reached up and placed a hand on his cheek offering her support. Jackson smiled and covered her small hand with his larger one. They spent the next minutes wrapped up in each other, oblivious to the surrounding conversations of the rest of the squad.

"Hey, love birds! Get a room!" Mellish joked, "Your making me vomit here!"

"Leave 'em alone, Fish" Caparzo smacked his friend round the head before taking another drag of his cigarette. Like the others he had watched the exchange between the two soldiers, he had seen the love in their eyes and he was happy for them. Who would've thought two people could find love in the middle of the war? Maybe, just maybe there was some hope left. Something to live for.

Chrissie looked up at the two men walking towards the squad. Miller and Horvath had returned.

"I'll try and dig up another interpreter." Miller said as he grabbed his pack. "Assemble at battalion motor pool."

"Yes, sir." Horvath turned to the squad.

"What we doing?" Caparzo asked at the same time Horvath started to speak.

"Listen up… what?"

"What we gonna do?" Caparzo repeated.

Horvath kneeled on one knee. "You're going home wrapped in an American flag with a hunk of cheese in your ass, Caparzo you smart ass!"

"You like it in the ass!"

"What?" the Sergeant looked towards Reiben.

"I thought you liked it in the ass." Chrissie rolled her eyes, typical Richard with his perverse comments.

"Shut up, Reiben and listen up." Horvath ordered. "Captain's just received orders to put together a squad to find a missing paratrooper. His three brothers were killed in action, our job is to find him and bring him home."

"When do we head out?" Chrissie asked, holding her hand up to shade her eyes from the sun.

"As soon as the Captain returns with an interpreter." Horvath answered looking over his shoulder.

"Right, so we're all going to look for one guy." Mellish said dubiously, "Why's he so special?"

"I don't know, Mellish. We've got orders. We follow them. End of." Horvath snapped walking away.

"God, what crawled up his ass and died." Mellish commented.

"Ha!" Reiben exclaimed, "I told you he liked it up the ass!" Chrissie had to laugh at his immaturity.

Chrissie smiled to herself as she watched the sheep trot past, completely oblivious to the destruction around them. If only she could be like them. Behind her she heard Mellish giving the new interpreter, Upham, a hard time.

"Hey! You want your head blown off, you fancy little fuck? Don't you ever touch me with those fucking little rat claws again! Get the fuck back in formation." Chrissie turned to see Upham move away from Mellish towards where Caparzo, Wade and herself were walking in the middle of the formation.

"Hey, Caparzo. Is it?" Upham was now walking between Carpy and Chrissie. Caparzo turned to the small soldier and pulled the cigarette from between his lips.

"Hey, drop dead, Corporal."

"Got you."

"And another thing, every time you're saluting the captain you make him a target for the Germans. So do us a favour, don't do it. Especially when I'm standing next to him. Capisce?"

"Um, capisce." Upham stuttered.

Wade who had been walking silently listening to the conversation felt bad for Upham, the squad didn't take to new members well. Mostly because they were such close friends, it was hard to accept others into the group. "Corporal, what's your book about?" he asked. Upham was thrilled that someone wanted to talk to him and jogged to Wade, his rifle swinging round his neck. "Hey, watch your rifle." Wade warned.

"Sorry, sorry." Upham grabbed the rifle in one hand, holding the other up. "Its supposed to be about the bonds of brotherhood that develop between soldiers during war."

Caparzo's booming laugh echoed through the field in which they were walking. "Brotherhood, what do you know about brotherhood? Get a load of this guy, Fish!" Caparzo turned to look at his friend as he chuckled. Turning back to Upham, he pointed to the top of the formation. "Why don't you ask the captain where he's from."

"Yeah, ask the captain." Mellish joined in. "He'll tell you everything you wanna know."

Chrissie rolled her eyes as she listened to the boys picking on the small corporal. She moved forwards past Caparzo and Upham to walk next to Wade, flashing him a smile.

"You wanna explain the math of this to me?" Reiben asked.

"You've never been the greatest with numbers, Rich. No need to start now." Chrissie smirked.

"Hey! I mean where's the sense of risking the lives of nine of us to save one guy."

"Anybody wanna answer that?" Miller asked directing the squad to the right.

"Reiben, think about the poor bastard's mother." The small medic said.

Scanning the area Reiben responded. "Hey, doc. I got a mother, alright. I mean, you got a mother. Sarge has got a mother. I mean shit, I bet even the captain's got a mother." Reiben glanced at the captain. "Well, maybe not the captain, but the rest of us got mothers."

"Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die." Upham recited cheerfully.

"La la la la la la la la. What the fuck is that supposed to mean, Corporal, huh? We're all supposed to die, is that it?" Mellish narrowed his eyes.

"Upham's talking about our duty as soldiers, retard" Chrissie laughed.

"Hey, princess. Shut your mouth otherwise I'll come and shut it for you" Mellish threatened and then winked at Chrissie.

"Is that a promise?" Chrissie winked back, laughing.

"We have orders to follow. That supersedes everything, including your mothers." Miller interrupted the playful banter.

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Upham face lit up with a smile at some sort of approval from the Captain.

"Even if you think the mission's fubar, sir?" Reiben questioned.

"Especially if you think the mission's fubar."

"What's fubar?" Upham asked.

Mellish laughed, "Oh, it's German. Yeah."

"Sir," Jackson started. "I have an opinion on this matter."

Miller smirked. "Well, by all means, share it with the squad."

"Well, from my way of thinking sir, this entire mission is a serious misallocation of valuable military resources." Chrissie looked at Jackson, fascination at his use of words. He simply smiled back before continuing. "Well, it seems to me, sir, that God gave me a special gift. Made me this fine instrument of warfare."

"Reiben, pay attention. This is the way to gripe! Continue, Jackson."

"What I mean by that, sir, is if you were to put me and this here sniper rifle anywhere up to and including one mile of Adolf Hitler, with a clear line of sight, sir. Pack your bags, fellas. War's over. Amen."

Reiben rolled his eyes at the southerner. "Oh, that's brilliant, bumpkin." He turned to see Chrissie drift towards Jackson and take his hand in hers. He quickly faced the other way and continued the conversation. "Yeah, so captain, what about you? I mean, you don't gripe at all?"

Miller raised his eyebrows. "I don't gripe to you, Reiben. I'm a captain. There's a chain of command. Gripes go up, not down. Always up. You gripe to me, I gripe to my superior officers and so on and so on. I don't gripe to you. I don't gripe in front of you. You should know that."

"I'm sorry, sir," Reiben continued making Chrissie chuckle. He had always been persistent. "But, uh, let's say you weren't a captain or maybe I was a major. What would you say then?"

"Well, in that case. I'd say this is an excellent mission, sir, with an extremely valuable objective, sir, worthy of my best efforts, sir. Moreover, I feel heartfelt sorrow for the mother of Private James Ryan and will lay down my life and the lives of my men, especially you, Reiben, to ease her suffering."

Laughter ran through the squad as Miller finished his speech. "He's good." Mellish voiced.

"I love him." Caparzo agreed and they made kiss faces at each other. Chrissie stared at the two men with one eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face. Caparzo noticed her watching and blew a kiss her way, Chrissie pretend to catch it and fan herself.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five - Pool

The whole squad groaned as not only rain started to fall, but they were approaching the town of Neuville and they could hear heavy fire.

"Well, I'd take an educated guess and say that Neuville has some unwanted guests." Chrissie said as they ran through the fields towards the town.

"Hate you break it to you , but I think you may just be right on this one." Jackson told her smirking.

"Alright, men. And woman. Stay alert, stay in formation. We're moving in." Miller instructed.

On reaching the outskirts of the town the squad took cover behind a derelict wall. "Thunder." Miller shouted.

"Flash." came the reply.

"Upham, over there. Reiben you four go." As Reiben, Caparzo, Horvath and Upham moved into the town, Miller and the rest of the squad ran a group of soldiers.

"You guys are a sight for sore eyes." A soldier assumed the squad was their relief. "How many are ya?"

"Just nine of us. We're not your relief. Sorry." Miller told the soldier.

"What do you mean, sir?"

"We're here for a Private Ryan."

"Who? Ryan? What for?"

"Is he here?"

"I don't know." Miller sighed, this soldier was not the most helpful. "Maybe on the other side of town. What's his name again?"

Miller was getting tired of this. "Ryan. James Ryan. He dropped in with 101st."

"Goldman, get me a runner up here." The soldier ordered.

"Runner!"

Chrissie pushed herself up as they ran to another wall and joined the rest of the squad. She separated from Miller and sat down next to Mellish and Caparzo. "Boys, been a while." Chrissie nodded her head with a smirk.

"Chris, what you on about? Its been like five minutes," Mellish questioned.

"I know, dumb ass. I was just making conversation."

"Hey, shut up. I'm trying to listen." Caparzo was listening intently to the voice on the loudspeaker.

Chrissie and Mellish also listened hearing a german voice echoing though the town. "The State of Liberty is kaput."

"Your father was circumcised by my rabbi, you prick!" Mellish shouted back. Chrissie looked with raised eyebrows at Mellish who just shrugged his shoulders. The runner ran past the three soldiers and over to the captain, Chrissie followed him and squatted next to Jackson.

"Hey, what's happening?"

"Their sending a runner to look for Ryan." Jackson replied taking Chrissie's hand. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Tired, but fine. You?"

Jackson pulled her closer to him. "I'm good as long as I have you with me." He smiled as he gently pressed his lips to hers. The two were in there own world as whispers fluttered round the surrounding soldiers. Not many of them had seen a woman in the war, not many had seen two soldiers showing that type of affection. Pulling back slightly as Miller was giving the runner orders, he placed a small kiss on Chrissie's nose making her giggle.

"Cover!"

Jackson and Chrissie swiftly positioned there rifles and gave the runner some cover. The runner moved quickly but got shot down. Caparzo ran to join the group, "Those sick fucking sadistic animals!" He screamed and Chrissie pulled him back down as he looked over the top of the sandbag wall.

"They know we're not in contact, they'll single out the runners." The soldier told Miller.

"Yeah, but why do they keep shooting him up like that?" Caparzo yelled still looking at the fallen soldier.

"As long as his lungs still have breath, he stills holds a message. We would do the same." Miller reasoned.

"No, we wouldn't!" Caparzo argued. Miller ignored the soldier and turned to his medic.

"Wade, finish up. Get ready to travel." Miller ordered.

"Yes, sir."

Miller moved off with the soldier in charge, leaving the squad by the wall. Seconds later, he motioned for the squad to follow.

"Reiben, Caparzo. Fundamentals. Short runs. High and low at the corners. Could be tight, be prepared for close contact. Go." Miller ordered and the two soldiers left the group. "Upham, you stay with Sergant Horvath, rest of you with me!"

Chrissie rolled her eyes at the Sarge's comment. "I'll wear him like underwear, Captain."

As the squad moved further into the town they could see the extent of the damage. Houses were blown in two, missing roofs, walls. The war had run a path of destruction through the lives of innocent people. The soldier in front of Chrissie stopped and dropped to the floor and as she saw the Captain talking she did the same, staying alert to her surroundings with her rifle ready. As the captain moved forward slightly so did the rest of the squad. Chrissie stumbled when someone pushed into her back.

"Hey, watch it!" she whispered to Upham, who had rejoined the squad with Horvath.

"Sorry, sorry!" Upham whispered back. "Hey, where's the captain from?"

"Figure that out, you got yourself a nice prize." Reiben answered.

"Three hundred bucks last time I heard" Jackson added moving forward.

Chrissie followed, "Company's got a pool. Five bucks will get you in" she informed Upham as she passed.

"Well, someone must know where he's from. Know what he did for a living."

"I've been with him since Kasserine Pass, I don't have a clue." Horvath said.

"Reiben, so you don't even know where he went to school?"

'God,' Chrissie thought, 'This guy just doesn't let things go!'

"Cap'n didn't go to school, they assembled him at OSC outta spare body parts of dead GI's." Reiben told Upham in a serious tone.

Carparzo moved on past Chrissie and Jackson to talk to Upham.

"You gotta pay attention to detail. I know exactly where he's from and I know exactly what he did 'cuz I pay attention to detail."

Jackson grabbed Chrissie's arm and pulled her past the two soldiers. "Hey, Upham. Careful you don't step in the bullshit!" The comment made Chrissie laugh which in turn made Jackson smile. He loved to make her laugh, it made this whole situation a damn lot better when his girl was laughing and smiling. That was only one thing in a long list of things he loved about her. He loved the way her eyes sparkled, the way she rolled her eyes, the way her blonde hair stuck out beneath her helmet, the way she fiddled with her ears when she got tired. Jackson could list that things he loved but all in all he pretty much loved every single thing about her.

The squad moved behind a wall leading to into the town square. "Do it," Miller ordered.

"Thunder!" A soldier shouted. "Thunder! Or we will fire on you!"

A woman's voice could be heard, shouting in a language Chrissie did not recognised but guessed it was French. Peering round the wall the soldier's spotted a family in a destroyed house, the woman holding a small crying baby. Chrissie's eyes watered at the thought of the baby, the poor child must be scared stiff, cold and wet. It was an innocent in all of this and yet there was a chance that he or she wouldn't make it. Upham started speaking in French as the squad moved into the open. Chrissie moved over to where Miller stood with Upham trying to communciate with the parents.

"Ask them if they know where the Germans are." Miller ordered, Upham spoke and the man answered frantically in French. "What's he saying?"

"The children, he wants us to take the children."

"No, no, no." Miller shook his head. "We can't take the kids."

"They think they'll be safe with us." Upham told the captain. Chrissie saw Caparzo climbing up the rubble to the family. "Carpy, leave the girl!" Chrissie said. "You heard the captain, we can't take them. They wont be any safer with us!"

"Caparzo!" The captain shouted. "Put that kid back now!"

Caparzo held the small girl in one arm as he pulled off his rosary beads in an attempt to comfort the crying child. Chrissie smiled softly as she watched the large soldier whispering words of comfort to the girl. He would make an excellent father some day.

"Upham, how do you say 'it's okay?'" Caparzo questioned whilst everyone was still shouting at him to put the child back. "I can't, she reminds me of my niece, sir."

"Get the kid back up there, now!" Miller ordered.

"Captain, he decent thing to do would to at least take her up the road to the next town."

"We're not here to do the decent thing!" Miller stormed forward and grabbed the kid. "We're here to follow fucking orders. Sarge, take the goddamn kid."

"Captain - " Caparzo started to protest before a shot rang out and he fell on the piano.

"Caparzo!" Chrissie screamed moving towards him only to be pulled back and down by Jackson.

"Cover! Cover!"

Jackson's eyes scanned the surrounding area as he held onto Chrissie tightly. "Darling, don't you dare think about moving, okay?"

Chrissie sat with her hands covering her mouth watching Caparzo struggle to stay on his feet. She nodded slightly in Jackson's direction to signal that she had heard him.

Jackson moved towards the captain. "He was on the ground before we heard the shot." He pointed to the tower at the north end of the square. "That's where I'd be."

"I didn't see it," Miller said looking at his sniper.

Jackson started preparing his rifle. "Four-hundred and fifity yards, Captain. Maybe a shade under. I wouldn't venture out there, fellas. This snipers got talent!" Jackson warned.

"Chris, Chrissie." Horvath tapped the young woman on the shoulder. "Help me out here."

Chrissie turned to see the young girl in hysterics. She moved back a bit to be sat closer to Horvath and Upham who were trying to console the child. She extended her arms and pulled the small girl into her lap, whispering soothing words. "Hey, sweetie. My names Chrissie. What's yours?" The young girl continued to cry uncontrollably. "Hey, shush. Its going to be alright, I promise. You'll be back with mummy and daddy soon, okay." Jackson slowly moved round the back of the soldiers and as he passed Chrissie grabbed his arm. "Be careful." Jackson smiled and nodded before continuing.

Caparzo shouted out for the Captain, making Chrissie give the girl to Upham and move forward. "Caparzo, stay down." She said.

"Help me up. I can walk. I can walk."

"Carpy, stay down. Please don't move!" Chrissie pleaded, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"Caparzo! Stay still!" Wade shouted. Chrissie could see he was worried about the amount of blood Caparzo was losing. "Chrissie, can you see him from there? How is he?"

"Wade, you stay put." Miller ordered knowing that the small medic would risk his own life to save his friend.

"Where's he shot, Captain? Can you see him? Where's he shot?" Wade shouted out and moved forward in an attempt to see his wounded comrade only to be pulled back by another soldier.

"Damn it, stay down. What's the matter with you? Who's gonna take care of you if you get hit? Huh?"

"Fish, come over here." Caparzo was sounding weaker by the second.

"Carpy, put your head down. Put your head down." Mellish pleaded, his voice showed the pain he was feeling. Mellish and Caparzo were close friends, they had been together since the beginning. Chrissie couldn't imagine how hard it was for Mellish to just stay were he was and not help his buddy.

Caparzo held a letter in the air, his arm shaking. "Copy it. Copy it and send it for me."

"Your gonna send it yourself. Put your head down! "

"It's got blood!"

"Carpy, I see it."

"It's… it's to my dad. Its got blood on it, Fish."

"Okay, Carpy. I see it, okay."

Mellish looked at his friend to see him completely still. Looking back when he heard a shot he saw Jackson motion that he'd hit the target. "We got him!"

Chrissie ran with Wade, kneeling next to Caparzo.

"How bad is it?" She asked as they started pulling the clothing from his chest.

"Chest, maybe a lung shot." Wade sounded distressed. He frantically started cleaning the wound, but Chrissie knew it was too late. She gently laid her hand over his.

"Wade, he's gone." The small soldier looked up at Chrissie, his eyes were full of pain. The rest of the squad gathered around as Wade pulled a sheet from his bag. Jackson silently said a prayer for his fellow soldier and looked around for Chrissie, who was tucked under Reiben's arm staring at the body on the floor. Jealousy sparked inside him as he watched Reiben look down and place a kiss on Chrissie temple, squeezing her tightly. He knew it was wrong to have those feelings. Reiben was a team mate and also Chrissie's best friend, they were extremely close, but Jackson couldn't help but feel that Reiben harboured feelings that went beyond friendship.

Chrissie looked up at her best friend, whose hard eyes had turned to the soldier on the floor. She looked around the men standing and her eyes locked with one pair, she turned and kissed Reiben's cheek before pulling away from him and towards Jackson. His strong arms embraced her small body pulling her tightly to him, her head rested on his chest and she listened to his heart beat. It was soothing, the steady beat. The whole group was silent for a moment, each remembering their friend in their own way. Their silence was broken when the Captain came striding over.

"That's why we can't take children." He reached down and pulled Caparzo's dog tags from around his neck. "Sergeant Horvath, do an ammo check. Upham, canteens. Fill 'em up."

Miller was shouting orders to everyone.

"Jackson."

"Yes, sir."

"Take Mellish, check the tower. Right now. Go!"

Chrissie watched as Wade removed the bloody letter from Caparzo's hand and pulled the sheet over the body. The whole of the squad moved to follow orders, except Reiben. Chrissie watched him closely, she knew in situations like this he couldn't sort his emotions out properly and would lash out at anyone.

His eyes locked with hers. "Fuck Ryan!" was all he said before turning and walking away.

**A/N: Sorry guys, might be a few mistakes but I wanted to get this one up today and I've got to leave in, oh, three minutes so it was a bit rushed! Majorly busy atm, haven't done any Christmas shopping! Opps! But I'm gonna try and give you a chapter everyday, Lots of love xxx**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six - Private James Ryan

The squad continued their journey through the destroyed town. Chrissie walked silently beside Reiben, discreetly checking every so often that he was okay. She knew Caparzo's death would be hard on him, hard on the whole squad. She also knew that Richard was never one for openly expressing any feelings until they built up inside and exploded. Chrissie did not want to be around when that happened as he would lash out at anyone, blinded by anger.

"Thunder!"

"Flash!" The quick replied relaxed the soldiers slightly. "Come on in!"

"Hey, guys. We're looking for Captain Hamill."

"Somewhere down there, across the square." The soldier replied pointing in the direction of the square. With a nod from Miller the squad moved back against the wall and waited for his command. "Go, easy. Watch for snipers." The soldier warned.

Miller walked forward motioning for his soldiers to follow behind. They walked through the open square, scanning thoroughly for snipers that may be hiding.

"Jimmy T, find Captain Hamill, bring him in here."

"What? Up there?" The soldier motioned to a stair case to the side of the square.

"How the hell should I know? Would you just go look, please?" The soldier ran to complete the order. "Thank you, you moron!"

"Alright, you guys just flake out here for a while."

Chrissie turned and smiled at Jackson, walking over and collapsing into him. "I love you," her voice was muffled from where her face was pressed into his chest.

Jackson chuckled and lifted her chin, "I love you too," his lips pressed gently against hers as his hands travelled down to rest on the small of her back, pushing her closer to him. The kiss intensified but broke as a loud crashing noise rang through the square. The two pulled apart startled to see the wall had fallen, revealing German soldiers on the other side. Soldiers on each side pulled out their weapons, yelling for the others to drop theirs. Jackson pushed Chrissie behind him whilst he yelled to the Germans, who were yelling back.

"Drop 'em, drop 'em now!" "Drop your fucking weapons!" "Put them down!"

Suddenly, there was gunfire overhead and the German soldiers were shot dead.

"Clear up!" A voice announced from above.

"Clear down!" A voice close to Chrissie responded.

"Hey, baby. I think you can get off me now," Chrissie whispered to the body on top of her.

"Nah, I'm quite comfortable as I am," Jackson kissed her nose quickly before jumping up and pulling Chrissie with him. They moved over to the Captain as a man descended the stairs.

"Fred Hamill, Pathfinders 101st."

"John Miller, 2nd Rangers." The two captains shook hands, "Thank you." Miller looked around. "We're here looking for a Private James Ryan. He's part of your outfit. Any chance at all you policed him up?"

The two captains conversed as they walked, with the squad followed behind.

"How was the road in?" Hamill asked

"Scenic. We lost most of out ammo." Miller replied.

"Not to mention one of our men." Horvath added.

Hamill started shouting orders. "Lieutenant, redeploy that bazooka to the right side. And get Ryan up here!"

The soldier nodded and shouted for Ryan. Moments later a soldier was running towards the group.

"Here comes our boy," Reiben muttered to the squad. Ryan ran straight through the middle of the group of soldiers without even acknowledging one of them. "Told you he was an asshole."

Chrissie smacked Reiben in the stomach. "You're the asshole! You don't even know the guy." She turned to watch the soldier who was now kneeling on one knee in front of Miller, any second now his world was going to fall apart. Jackson's fingers intertwined with Chrissie's as they watched the soldier cry and tears gathered in Chrissie's eyes as they listened to all the things he was going to do with his brothers when he returned from the war.

"How… how did they die?"

"They were killed in action." Miller told him gently.

"No. That can't…" The soldier was shaking his head. "That can't be. My brothers are still in grammar school."

Miller's eyebrows knotted together. "Your James Ryan?"

"Yeah."

"James Francis Ryan from Iowa?"

"James Frederick Ryan, Minnesota."

Every member of the squad let out an exasperated sigh. It was the wrong guy. Miller apologised for the mistake and walked towards the squad.

"So, where the hell's our Ryan?" Horvath asked.

"I don't know," Miller sighed and turned to Hamill. "Are you in touch with your CO?"

"No. What unit's your guy in?"

"Baker Company, 506."

Hamill frowned in thought. "The guy with the broken foot, he's in 506."

"Yeah," a soldier confirmed. "Charlie, I think."

Miller and Horvath left to go talk to the soldier with the broken foot, leaving the squad to sit around and wait. Jackson sat down against the wall pulling Chrissie into his lap who quickly snuggled into him, letting out a happy sigh. The rest of the rest sat round them, not saying a word. They were all silently processing the day; losing their friend, finding the wrong guy. Chrissie glanced at the faces around her, stopping on one wearing an angry expression with hard eyes. She watched as Richards jaw clenched and his hands balled into fists, reaching down she picked up a small stone and threw it. The stone bounced off Reiben's helmet and his head shot up eyes blazing until he saw the culprit. Chrissie smiled softly and Reiben's face softened, a small smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

Jackson watched the two friends, another blaze of jealously shooting through him as he saw Reiben watching Chrissie intently. His arms tightened around Chrissie and he placed a kiss on her temple, keeping one eye on the soldier across from him, who rolled his eyes and looked at the floor.

The Captain returned with Horvath, speaking to Hamill.

"My men are beat. We're gonna hold up here for about three hours, then pull out after dark. Got anything left in this town like a three-star hotel? Something with clean sheets, soft pillows and room service?"

"How about a nice comfy church?" Hamill laughed.

"We'll take it!"

"We sure could use you around here, but I understand what you're doing."

"You do?" Miller asked surprised.

"Yeah, I got a couple of brothers myself."

"Oh."

"Yeah, good luck."

"Thank you."

"No, I mean it. Find him. Get him home."

The squad made their way to the church. Whilst they were walking Jackson wrapped his arms round Chrissie from behind, picking her up and swinging her through the air making her scream. When Chrissie's feet touched the floor again she turned around and bounced up into Jackson's awaiting arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him soundly. Mellish walked past pretending to gag, whilst Reiben smashed shoulders with Jackson as he passed knocking the southerner forwards. Jackson stumbled holding Chrissie but regained his footing.

"Hey, what the hell was that for?" Jackson shouted to Reiben, who kept walking. Chrissie stared after her friend with a sad look on her face before turning and pressing a small kiss on Jackson's lips.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for the crappy update! My imagination is working well atm! **

Chapter Seven - Choices

Night fell and the men had settled in the church. Miller and Horvath were sat to one side, laughing and remising old times, Wade sat at a table copying Caparzo's letter, and the others were positioned on the floor.

"I don't know how he does it." Mellish said.

"What's that?" Wade asked.

"Falls asleep like that. Look at him, the guys lights out before his head hit's the pack." Mellish pointed to Jackson who was sleeping across from them.

"Clear conscience." Reiben glanced over at the sleeping soldier. "What's the saying? 'If God's on our side, who the hell could be on theirs?'"

"If God be for us, who could be against us?" Upham corrected.

"Yeah, what did I say?"

"Well, actually, the trick to falling asleep is trying to stay awake."

"How is that, Wade?" Reiben asked, starting to come out of his angry state of mind.

"Well, when my mother was an intern, she used to work late through the night, and sleep through the day. So the only time we every got to really talk about anything was when she'd get home. So what I used to do, I used to lie in my bed and try and stay awake as long as I could, but it never worked 'cause the harder I'd try the faster I'd fall asleep."

"Yeah, well that wouldn't have mattered in my house." A ghost of a smile flickered across Reiben's face. "My mum, she would've come home, shook me awake, chatted me up till dawn. I swear, that woman was never too tired to talk."

"Probably the only time she could get a word in." Mellish chuckled lighting a cigarette. They made kiss faces at each other as Wade stood up from the table and joined them on the floor.

"So, what's up with you and the whole Jackson Chrissie scenario?" Mellish questioned.

"What the hell you about?" Reiben narrowed his eyes and stared at the floor.

"Well lets see, you nearly pushed the two right over today, you constantly roll your eyes when they're together and you're pretty much miserable around them."

"Fish, if you know what's good for you, you'll stop speaking. Right now."

"Come on, Reiben. Stop kidding yourself." Wade tried to signal to Mellish to stop questioning the New York native.

Every muscle in Reiben's body tensed thinking of his best friend. "I just don't want him to hurt her." His eyes raised to look at the sleeping southerner.

"You sure that's the only reason? Maybe there is more to what you feel about her?" Wade gently probed.

"What are you saying, huh? That I love her? That I'm in love with her?" Reiben whispered angrily.

"Maybe, that's not so far from the truth." Mellish answered him, he knew that Reiben loved the small woman. He just needed him to admit it so he would stop acting like such as asshole.

"Look, so what if I have any kind of feelings for her. She has Jackson, she's happy. I'm not gonna be the one to ruin it for her." Reiben mumbled.

"Even if it makes you unhappy?" Wade asked.

"Look as much as I'm enjoying the heart to heart, can we change topic. I really don't wanna talk about it anymore." Wade and Mellish went along with what Reiben wanted and started talking about sleep again. They knew they were privileged to see even a glimpse of a softer side to Reiben, a side he hid away from so many.

Miller walked over to the group. "We've only got a couple of hours. You should all get some sleep, where's Chrissie?"

"She's outside." Upham told them.

"Right, okay. Well put your heads down, get some rest." Miller walked through the large doors and breathed in the fresh air looking around for Chrissie, who he spotted sitting on the steps leaning against a pillar. As he walked closer he saw the slow rise and fall of her chest and her closed eyes, she was asleep. He quietly sat down next to her and gently shook the sleeping woman awake.

"Chrissie, sweetheart. You need to come inside." Her eyelids fluttered for a moment before opening and darting around. Chrissie body stiffened momentarily before realising she was safe, she smiled softly and the Captain before resting her head back on the pillar.

Miller reached out and took her hand, noticing the tracks her tears had left on her cheeks. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

"Yes. No. I don't know." Chrissie replied letting out a small sob.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"I don't even know what's wrong! Everything was perfect, well as perfect as they can be in this situation. But, suddenly everything has gone wrong." She stopped to take a deep breath before continuing. "Carpy's gone, Richard's constantly angry about something, Jackson's been a bit quiet lately and we're searching for a soldier but we haven't the faintest idea where he is!"

"Shush now. Its okay." Miller pulled the small woman into a hug.

"No, its not okay. They're small things to be upset about, but they just…" She trailed off, sobs racking her body.

"Hey, it will be okay. I promise you. Everything will be fine."

They stayed like that until Chrissie couldn't cry anymore.

"I think I'll be okay now." She whispered.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay, we haven't got long. Go get some sleep." He kissed her forehead gently and watched as she walked back into the Church before looking up at the stars.

Chrissie walked through the church in which the only light was from the small flickering candles placed in the centre. Everybody was asleep and the captain was still outside. She walked over to Jackson and laid down next to him, snuggling into his side.

Jackson's arm slung over Chrissie's waist and pulled her tighter to him, and Chrissie took Jackson's hand in hers.

"Hey," he whispered into her ear.

"Hi," Jackson noted how coarse her voice sounded, like she'd been crying.

"Darling, you okay?"

"I'm fine now I'm with you," she pulled their hands up to her face and kissed his hand.

"Were did you go?" Jackson's thumb massaged the back of the small hand in his palm.

"Outside on the steps to get some fresh air, I fell asleep."

"Right, and any chance you're gonna tell me what had you crying?"

Chrissie contemplated her answer before replying. "Uh, today. Ya know, Carpy mostly." She thought it was best to leave out that she was worried about him and Reiben. It probably wouldn't be well received.

"Oh," Jackson's mind pushed away the thought of his dead friend. He didn't want to remember what had happened, he wanted to lock it in a little box and shove it to the deepest corner of his mind.

"I love you, Chrissie. You know that, right? Whatever I do, whatever you do. I will always love you." Jackson pressed his lips to her shoulder gently.

Chrissie was silent for a moment thinking about what he said. "I love you too," she whispered softly before falling to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm so so sorry for the major disappearing act. I've been through a tough few weeks with exams so just haven't felt in the writing frame of mind. But I'm back and I enjoyed this chapter so there'll be more to follow. Also had an idea for a Jackson/Chrissie one shot for Christmas so let me know if you'd like to see more. lots of love xxx**

Chapter Eight - FUBAR

The squad moved out after dark, walking through the night. The sun was shining down on them as they walked through the trees, finding an old wreck. Dead bodies lined the floors until they came through the tree line, seeing dozens of wounded soldiers laid under make-shift canopies.

"Wade." Captain said,

"Yes, sir."

"See what you can do," Miller ordered. "Hang on, guys. It won't be long."

Chrissie and Jackson moved over to a small group and Chrissie started examining injuries.

"Don't worry, fellas." Jackson said. "The 29th Infantry's breaking through, they'll be here soon."

Chrissie finished dressing a wound and looked up to where the squad had gathered around a soldier. She lighted a cigarette for the man she had treated before joining the Captain.

"Mean time, other guys keep showing up. One, two, half-dozen at a time." The soldier was telling Miller. "Then some officer will show up and patch together a mixed unit and head off to make trouble, sir."

"We're looking for a Private James Ryan. Baker Company, 506 of the 101st."

"No, you got me, sir," the soldier shook his head. "A lot of guys come in and out of here."

"Reiben," the small medic called. "Smell that leg right there. Find out if its south of cheese." Chrissie sniggered quietly at the disgusted look on Reiben's face as he bent to smell the leg.

"Upham, Lewis," Miller called. "Go check out those men, see if Ryan's there."

Chrissie moved across the small camp site, and stopped when she saw Mellish talking to the German prisioners.

"Juden. Juden. I'm Juden, you know?"

"Ju-den." Mellish slowly said the word.

"Hey, Juden!" Chrissie called. "How bout coming to help me look for Ryan?"

"Okay, two seconds," Mellish replied looking once more to the Germans. "Juuuu-den."

Mellish and Chrissie walked through what seems like thousands of soldiers, no-one knew a James Ryan.

"Fuck this!" Mellish exclaimed. "He's not here, lets go find the rest of the guys."

Chrissie sighed softly. "This Ryan better be worth it." She muttered. "He better be the most handsome guy I've ever seen what luscious blonde hair and baby blue eyes with a stunning tan."

Mellish looked at her with his eyebrow raised. "Well, I was thinking more along the lines of he better go home and find a cure for some disease, but ya know!"

They laughed together as they made their way back to the group which was gathered around an aircraft.

"We were just.." Chrissie joined Jackson and his arm wrapped around her waist as they listened to the soldier tell his story. "We were just too damn heavy, you know? Grass was wet. Downward slope and all. 22 guys dead."

"All that for one man." Miller was astounded.

"One man." The soldier nodded.

"Lot of that going around." Reiben said. "Fubar."

"Fubar."

"Fubar."

"Fubar."

"Y'all got that right." Jackson agreed.

"I look in a German dictionary. There's no 'fubar' in there," Upham stated confused.

"Ahh, bless your little cottons," Chrissie chuckled. "Someday, when your older, you'll understand."

The squad laughed quietly before the soldier pulled a bag from his pocket. "Uh, you might wanna check these out, sir. Dog tags. More than I really want to count, sir."

"Jackson," Miller threw the bag to the sniper who caught it easily in one hand. "Start going through those."

"Yes, sir." Jackson answered, kissing Chrissie quickly and moved away.

Chrissie looked around and Reiben caught her gaze. "I'll help." Chrissie knew that it was his way of making peace with her so she smiled back at him.

"Chrissie," Miller caught her attention. "Go help Wade."

"Yes, sir." Chrissie replied, turning to find the medic and jogging over.

"Hello, m'lovley." She sang as she approached. "I'm all yours, where do you want me?"

"I can think of a few places I want you." A soldier said winking at Chrissie and laughing with his mates.

"I wouldn't even think of her like that if I were you," Wade warned him. "Not only has she got a two men who will kick your ass for even looking at her, she has a whole squad too."

Chrissie shot the man a glare before squatting next to Wade. "What do you want me to do?"

"Put some pressure there for me," he pointed to the wound on the soldiers chest. "I just need to get the bandage tight enough."

Wade bit his lip in concentration. "So," he started, "everything going well with Jackson?"

Chrissie looked up at him, "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

"No reason, you just seemed out of sorts yesterday." Wade answered, bandaging round the soldier's shoulder.

"Yeah, well everything's right as rain." Chrissie said cheerfully smiling at the medic.

Wade's head rose to smile at Chrissie but stopped when he caught a glance of the three soldiers tossing dog tags with glares being thrown their way by the troops passing through.

"What the hell are they doing?"

The guys were sorting through the dog tags.

"Jackson, keep them in your own fucking pile. How am I supposed to know who I got?" Reiben pushed a load of tags into Jackson's lap.

"Why don't you just shut up, Reiben!" Jackson retaliated glaring at his fellow soldier.

"Haha," Mellish nervously chuckled. "Everybody be friends."

"I got a full house."

"Got you beat. Straight flush."

"You were looking at my tags," Mellish accused. "You're cheating!" The three soliders were unaware of the disgusted glares they were getting from the troop of soldiers walking past until Chrissie came storming up to the make-shift table.

"Have some fucking respect!" She whispered angrily.

"What the hell are you doing?" Mellish screeched. "Jackson, control your woman!"

"Chris, Chrissie! Your mucking up the piles!" Reiben yelled.

"The whole fucking Airborne's watching you assholes! These aren't poker chips!"

"All right, all right!"

"Chrissie, darling calm down." Jackson grabbed her hands which were frantically returning the tags to the bag.

"No, put 'em back in! God damn it!" Jackson stood up and pulled her away.

"Calm down, they're gone okay."

"He's not here." Miller said placing the dog tags back into the bag. Jackson sat down and pulled Chrissie into his lap, kissing her neck softly as the Captain started shouting Ryan's name. The men watched as a soldier approached the Captain about someone who knew a Ryan from 'C' Company.

Two soldiers ran up to Miller. "Do you know Private James Ryan?" he asked.

"You're gonna have to speak up, sir. My hearings not so good, it comes and goes. German grenade went off right by my head." The larger soldier shouted to Miller.

"Okay, I got it. I got it. Do you know Private Ryan?" Miller asked again speaking in a bigger voice.

"Who?"

"Private Ryan? James Ryan?"

"Jimmy Ryan?"

"James." Miller repeated. "James Francis Ryan."

"No, no, no. James Francis Ryan." The soldier corrected the captain and Chrissie smiled, they were getting close. The squad moved over to the Captain and the soldier who could help them complete their mission.

"Get me a pencil." Miller ordered. "And something to write on. Quick. Quick, come on. A pencil!"

Upham a pencil from his pocket and held it up. "A small one, sir."

"Write this down. James Francis Ryan, question mark. Iowa, question mark." Miller signalled to the soldier to look at the note.

"Yeah. Of course I know him, sir."

"Where is he?" Miller asked again signalling for the soldier to read the note.

"Yeah, yeah. We missed out drop zone by about 20 miles, ended up right over by Bumville, or some damn place. Ryan, me and a couple other guys were coming here to the rally point, ran into a colonel who was gathering up men to go to, uh… Ramelle."

"Ramelle." Miller whispered.

"Babysit a bridge. Last I've seen of them, sir."

"Thank you. Thank you." Miller turned to Upham. "Write "thank you"."

"Assemble on me." Miller ordered as he walked through the squad and back to the makeshift table where all the squad gathered.

"We're here. There." Miller pointed on the map. "Ramelle, is on the Merderet river, just south-west of us."

"You know anything about this bridge he was talking about, Captain?" Horvath asked.

"Yep," Miller answered. "The target has always been Cherbourg. We can't push on Paris until we take a deep water port. Rommel knows that, so he's gonna try and get his armour across the river anywhere he can. Then he can hit us in the flank when we turn to Cherbourg." The squad watched Miller pull out a compass, hand shaking.

"That makes any village on that river with an intact bridge solid-gold real estate." Chrissie concluded as Miller's hand continued shaking. For a moment the squad was silent, looking at the hand of their Captain.

Miller looked around at the faces surrounding him, "Let's go."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine - Radar Station

Chrissie legs felt like she had been walking for hours. They hade rested a few hours back, but quickly resumed their journey towards Ramelle. Blonde wisps of hair blew lightly in the wind as she rested her head lazily on Jackson's shoulder as they walked. Suddenly Miller ducked down, causing the rest of the squad to follow as they now crawled through the grass. A few feet away lay three dead decomposing soldiers, the smell made Chrissie want to be sick but she held it back and held her breath.

Miller and Horvath crawled closer as Miller pulled out binoculars from his pocket.

"What the hell is that?" Horvath asked.

"A radar site." Miller answered, peering through the lens.

"It's got to be out of action." Horvath said squinting at the building.

"No," Miller tensed. "Looks like we got something in it. Sandbag bunker right under the station. See it?" He pointed in the direction of the bunker.

"Yeah," Horvath answered as they turned back. "That's my guess, too."

"What is it?" Upham asked on Miller's return.

"Machine gun," Horvath told them. "Probably MG-42."

"Jesus, is that what got our guy?" Chrissie asked.

"Maybe one of them's our boy." Mellish nodded to the bodies.

"No. Their patches are 82nd. So your lucks not that good." Miller informed them.

Reiben looked around at the squad. "Yo, I don't know how fast the rest of you guys are, but I'm thinking we detour this way, quick and quiet, the Krauts wont even know we were here." He looked at the Captain who was adjusting his gear. "So, Captain what I'm trying to say is why don't we just go around the thing."

Miller removed his top jacket. "I hear what you're saying, but we can't go around it."

Chewing quietly on a piece of grass, Jackson forehead wrinkled in thought. "I'm with Reiben on this one, Sir. I mean we left them 88s."

"For the Air Force." Miller told him. "The Air Force wont spend ordinance on one machine gun."

"Umm, Captain?" Mellish asked. "We can still skip it and accomplish our mission. I mean this isn't our mission, right, Sir?"

"So that's what you want to do, Mellish? You just want to leave it here so they can ambush the next company that comes along?" Chrissie sat silently watching Miller.

"I don't think that's what he meant, Sir." Chrissie spoke quietly, looking at the ground. "Our mission is to save Private Ryan, we can't do that if we get taken down by these guys."

"Exactly," Mellish agreed. "I'm simply saying, it seems like an unnecessary risk given our objective, sir."

"Our objective is to win the war." The Captain looked each of his soldiers in the eye, daring them to disagree with him.

"Sir," Reiben spoke again. "I just, uh, I just don't have a good feeling about this one."

"Well, when was the last time you felt good about anything?" The Captain replied before jogging off.

"This is going to end badly." Chrissie mumbled.

"Come on, we better follow." Jackson softly held her arm and pulled her to her feet.

The squad followed Miller through the trees and squatted in a huddle around him.

"Alright," Miller ordered. "Three runners with suppressing fire. Mellish, you hook to the right. I'll go up the middle. Who's going left?"

There was heavy silence as each member of the squad looked anywhere but at the Captain.

"Who's going left?" The Captain asked again, his irritation was heard through the tone of his voice.

Reiben spit on the ground and the blob of saliva landed close to Chrissie's knee causing her to turn and glare her friend, who only smirked.

"I'll do it." Chrissie's head whipped round as she heard Jackson speak.

"Jackson," She hissed, she knew he was be in the line of fire and whilst she didn't want any member of the team being that vulnerable, she especially didn't want him going out there.

"I'll do it." Jackson repeated looking Chrissie straight in the eye, letting her know that it was not up for discussion.

"Okay," the Captain nodded. "Upham, switch off with Jackson, and you linger in the rear."

"Yes, sir."

"We advance and keep pressure on till he has to change out his barrels. I think we should be able to hit him from grenade range."

"I think I should go up the middle, sir." Horvath said.

"The way you run, I don't think so."

"Maybe I should go left, sir." Horvath insisted.

"Maybe you should shut up." Miller snapped. "Reiben, Lewis. Base of fire." Chrissie nodded whilst pulling grenade from her pockets and handing them to Jackson.

"Be careful," She told him taking his hand gently and placing the last grenade in his palm.

"Mags and clips were you can reach them, and extra grenades for the base runners." Miller ordered.

Jackson pushed Chrissie's hair back from her face tucking it gently behind her ear. "I love you," he said placing a soft kiss to her forehead before moving past her to join Miller and Mellish.

Chrissie watched him converse with the two men, unaware of the man who walked beside her. "You ready, Chris?" Reiben asked, nudging her gently in the side.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied smiling up at him. The smile made Reiben's heart constrict, she was beautiful even with the dirt staining her face.

"You sure you're up to this?" He asked smirking. "Cause I could handle it if you're not. Ya know, I wouldn't want to have to save your ass."

"Oh, really," she raised an eyebrow and placed a hand on her hip facing him. "If memory serves, last time we were in this situation it was me who was doing the ass saving and you my dear friend were the one left lying in the mud."

Reiben's eyes narrowed and Chrissie smirked in victory turning back around and walking towards the Captain. "Well if you break a nail, I wont say I told you so!" Chrissie just looked at him and winked.

"Right, everyone in position." Miller ordered. "Go! Go! Go!"

Chrissie sprinted forwards with Reiben beside her. Jackson broke off to the left, and Mellish to the right. The Captain was slightly behind them. Bullets flew past and the shots rang sharply through the field. The machine gun blasted round after round of bullets, they needed to get cover.

"There!" Reiben shouted grabbing Chrissie's arm and pulling her over to a crater. It was shallow but it would give them enough cover to give the runners some fire. Within seconds they were firing on the Germans, Chrissie's mind floated to Jackson but she had to push it away to concentrate on the task at hand.

Grenades exploded in front of them, meaning the runners had made it up to the bunker. Chrissie screamed as a grenade landed in the crater but before she could move Reiben had thrown the device back at the bunker. They continued to fire on the enemy for the next following minutes until the sound of the fire was decreasing.

"Hill's clear!" Horvath shouted. "Four down and dead!" Chrissie jumped up hearing this and ran to where Horvath and the Captain were huddled. It looked like they were leaning over a body.

"Upham!" The Captain screamed. "Get the kit up here! Get up here, now! We need water and extra dressings now!"

Chrissie pushed harder once she heard the Captain, someone was hurt. Reiben was right, they should have gone around. She made it closer to the group as Jackson joined them and dropped to his knees. Once she was closer, she saw a sight that nearly made her sick.

The squad was gathered around Wade who had his shirt open exposing multiple wounds on his chest. His fellow soldiers were frantically applying water and salts to the wounds as Chrissie dropped down by Wade's head.

"Your gonna be all right, Doc." Miller told him.

"How's it look?" Wade strained his neck to try and see but Chrissie gently pulled him down, laying her hands firmly on his shaking shoulders.

"Its fine, Wade. Its okay, they're taking care of it." She told him running a hand reassuringly through his hair. "Stay still, Wade."

"My legs," Wade's hand grabbed at Chrissie. "Put my legs up. Put my legs up."

"Okay, shh." Chrissie replied stroking his sweating forehead. "Sarge, he wants his legs up."

Horvath looked at her before pulling the wounded soldiers legs up to rest on his knee. "I got 'em. I got 'em, I got 'em."

"Chris, put some pressure here," Jackson told her pointing to the wound at the top of Wade's chest. Chrissie moved Wade's head into her lap and leaned to press her hands over the top of the wound.

"Morphine!" Chrissie heard someone shout. She had been in these situations before with wounded soldiers but somehow this was different. Whenever a situation like this had occurred before, it was Wade who was applying the treatment. He was always so calm and knew exactly what he was doing, unlike the squad of soliders who were desperately doing anything to save their friend. "Am I shot in the spine?" A shaky voice asked.

"You're okay, Wade."

"Am I shot in the spine?"

"Okay, lift him up. Easy, easy, easy." Miller ordered. Chrissie held onto his head as the other men rolled him onto his side.

"Put some pressure on the front!"

"Easy, easy!"

Miller examined Wade's back. "It okay, doc. You're gonna be alright." Jackson murmured to him.

"Wade, you've got an exit wound." Miller told him. "Its in the small of your back."

Wade squirmed in Chrissie's hold. "How big…. How big's the hole in the…"

"About the size of the acorn," Miller replied as they rolled him onto his back. Blood still ran like a river from his wounds.

"Put some pressure on it."

"More pressure."

"Put more pressure on it."

Hands covered Wade's chest as they applied pressure to his wounds.

"Is there anything bleeding worse than the others?" Wade asked, Chrissie's worry grew as she spotted blood from his mouth.

"Yeah, right here." Mellish said taking his hand. "I'll put your hand on it, ok? Right there."

"You'll be okay," Jackson said to him placing his hand next to Chrissie's who looked up at him and saw the tears in his eyes.

Wade jerked suddenly. "Oh, my God, my liver! Oh, my God! It's my liver!"

"Come on, Wade." Upham urged. "Tell us what to do. Tell us how to fix you."

"Tell us, Wade." His eyes found Chrissie's as she spoke to him. "Tell us what to do to make to better."

"I could… I could use more, a little more morphine." Chrissie looked at the Captain. Should he have more morphine?

"More morphine, sir?" Jackson asked. Miller looked around the squad before turning to Horvath.

"Give it to him."

"Sir."

"Give it to him." Miller ordered.

Horvath injected the morphine and Chrissie held Wade tighter as he struggled.

"I don't want to die!" He cried, Chrissie's heart broke listening to his screams.

"Its okay, Wade. Its okay." Tears rolled down her cheek, dripping onto his face.

"Give him another one," Horvath injected another load of morphine.

Wade's struggles quietened, "Mama?" He asked. "Mama?"

"I wanna go home! I wanna go home!" Wade cried and buried his face into Chrissies shirt.

Chrissie's tears merged with his as she held him close and whispered to him. "I promise, Wade. You're going to be okay. You're going home. You'll be fine." Her voice cracked as she looked down at him. "You're going home."

Wade became still in Chrissie's hold muttered words before silence fell over the squad. The only noise was Chrissie's sobbing, each and every member stared in shock and sadness at the body of their friend. Chrissie was still holding him to her, rocking and kissing his head. A part of her didn't want to believe he was gone, that he might come back. But as Jackson gently pulled her arms from Wade, she latched onto him knowing it was the end.

**Hello m'lovelys :) hope you've had a great christmas and new years. I've been terrible and completly ignored this story but I will try to be better now :) Let me know what you thought of this chapter, wasn't one of my favourite. I found it quite hard to express what i wanted to write! **

**Take care xxx**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 - Bubble**

Chrissie sat still as a statue for a moment, curled in Jackson's arms. Every pair of eyes were focused on the body laid in front of them, each soldier deadly silent. Miller reached out pulling a piece of paper from Wade's pocket. Carpy's letter.

Reiben stood abruptly causing Chrissie to look away from her deceased friend. Their eyes locked for a moment and she saw the agony that his face displayed, his jaw clenched and he nodded stiffly at her before walking away.

Jackson kissed Chrissie's forehead as he held her tightly to him. He wished he could send her home, she shouldn't have been here in the first place! He wanted to get her out of this hell, away from the death and violence. His sensitive hearing picked up muffled cries and he looked up the hill to see Reiben beating what seemed to be a German soldier. Instantly, upon seeing the Kraut the anger took over. Wade was his friend, he was family and those bastards had killed him. Untangling himself from the small woman on his lap he sprinted up the hill.

Chrissie grunted as Jackson pushed her away and looked up at him in surprise, but he had already began running up the hill. The tears threatened to spill again, this time she had no clue why. She was an emotional wreck. Timid hands gently took a hold of her waist and pulled her to her feet. She looked up, surprised to see Upham staring at her warily. She attempted a smile to let him know she was alright but the smile more resembled a grimace.

"Not yet." Chrissie turned at the sound of Miller's voice to see Reiben and Jackson preparing to fire on the German. Making her way up the hill she could hear the Kraut speaking wildly, though she could not understand a word of what he was saying. "First make him mark and cover Wade's body for grave detail. Same thing for those paratroopers down there."

Chrissie stepped closer to the group of men, watching Reiben roll his eyes in disbelief. He wanted to kill the guy and be over with it, losing another squad member had hurt him and he needed someone to take his anger out on.

"Strip that stuff off and check him for intelligence." Miller ordered.

Mellish who had been silently standing beside Chrissie grabbed Upham roughly by his shirt and pulled him to where the German was standing.

"Ask him if he's the one who killed Wade. Ask him!" Mellish shouted.

"It doesn't matter." Upham replied quietly, not looking at the taller man.

"It does matter!" Mellish snapped. "Ask him."

Upham and the German conversed as Chrissie helped Jackson remove the protective equipment from the soldier. Chrissie jumped slightly as Jackson crashed the soldier up against the sandbags.

"Shut up with that filthy pig Latin!" Jackson hissed.

"Jackson, you're hit." Miller stood behind him, Chrissie took hold of Jackson's arm and looked at the wound. She cringed as Jackson prodded the wound to see how deep it was, the blood oozing.

"It just skinned me, sir." He told the Captain.

"Get it dressed. You and Chrissie watch the perimeter." Miller ordered.

"Come here," Chrissie pulled him away from the group and began unbuttoning his shirt. She watched his face as she removed his multiple layers, revealing a tight fitting t-shirt. She drew a sharp intake of breath as his eyes met hers and his hands settled on her hips. He was the most mesmerizing man she had me, so strong yet so gentle. She ran her fingers through his hair and leant down capturing his mouth with her own. The passion intensified and Chrissie pulled away for air, leaning her forehead against Jackson's, their noses touching.

"I love you," she whispered.

The lines round Jackson's eyes crinkled as he smiled softly, cupping her cheek in his large hand.

"I love you," he replied and in that moment, nothing else mattered. It was just the two of them and Chrissie knew she would be okay as long as Jackson was by her side.

She placed a kiss on his nose before pulling away. "Right, we better get you cleaned up."

The next few hours passed in a blur for Chrissie, after dressing Jackson's wounds she was assigned to watching the perimeter. Probably one of the most boring jobs but someone had to do it. It gave her time to herself to think, to sort through the many thoughts flying around in her head. She also had time to watch. She watched Jackson and Upham arguing over the German. She watched the way Jackson moved, the way his muscles tightened under his t-shirt as he worked. She watched Reiben sitting under a tree puffing on a cigarette, angry at the world. She even watched the Captain, as discrete as he tried to be, hide behind the rubble. She heard the sobs, saw his blood shot eyes when he reappeared.

She watched a lot, yet she wished she'd watched more. As she sat at her post she tried frantically to picture Wade and Carpazo in her mind, picture their faces and imagine their tone of voice, but she couldn't quite get it right. There was always something slightly off, and she realised that for the first time in a long time she was completely and undeniably awake.

She'd be living in a bubble, a bubble in which her not-so-perfect life was perfect because everyone she loved and cared for was alive. But not anymore. Her bubble was shattered.

Thanks for sticking with me on this on guys, i'm starting to get back into it. Just a small chapter here, as I wanted to give you something but I didn't have long to do it :) Big big thank you to people that have reviewed, your support encourages me to write this.

Lots of love xxx


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry for my unexplained absence. In January I had a really bad fall from my horse and broke two vertebrae. Luckily the spinal cord was still in tact and there was no nerve damage, but I've been in and out of surgery and have had all sorts done to me but I'm back at home now. So after being reunited with my laptop and seeing some lovely reviews posted I thought I'd update. The rest of this story I hope will come quickly now as I've still got pretty limited movement at the moment. I won't be out riding the horses any time soon! :( But onwards, hope you enjoy the chapter! Lots of love xxx**

Chrissie's eyes fluttered as she wandered in and out of consciousness, she has been relieved from her post and was now slumped on the ground leaning against a tree. Through the haze of sleep she could hear a German voice and the voice which distinctively belonged to the young Corporal. Heavy footsteps approached and the voices grew silent until the German started rambling incoherently, although Chrissie caught some of the better pronounced words that left his mouth. All the talking was giving her a headache and she squeezed her eyes closed tighter to block the voices, singing nursery rhymes in her head.

"Fuck Hitler!"

Chrissie's eyes flew open and she rose to her feet quickly, staring at the German soldier. The whole of the remaining squad where gathered and watched quietly as the Captain grabbed the Kraut and hauled him out of the hole he was digging. The man grabbed Upham and pulled him closer, talking quickly in his own language desperation lacing his tone.

"He said he's sorry about Wade." Upham translated, a flash of sadness crossed each face. Wade's death was still a sore subject. It always would be, but the wound was still fresh.

Chrissie took her place beside Jackson and followed the Captain into the open, cursing as Upham pushed past her causing her to stumble.

"Captain! Captain, this isn't right!" Upham protested, still the Captain ignored him. "You know this, he's a prisoner. He surrendered. He surrendered, sir!"

The Captain stopped at the top of a small hill and pulled some cloth, roughly tying it round the German's head.

_A blind fold? _Chrissie's brow furrowed in confusion, as did the soldier's surrounding her who had their rifles loaded and waiting.

Ensuring that the blindfold was secure, Miller turned to Upham. "Tell him, to march a thousand paces in that direction, then he can take off the blindfold. We'll be gone, and he turns himself in into the first Allied Patrols he comes across."

Upham nodded quickly, guiding the solider.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Reiben exclaimed, stepping forward. "We're letting him go?"

Chrissie watched her friend glare at the passing soldier. She saw the anger mustering in his eyes and placed her hand gently on his forearm, offering her support.

"He's a POW, Reiben. Can't take him with us. Our guys'll pick him up, sooner or later." The Captain explained simply.

Reiben breathed deeply through his nose and rubbed his hands roughly over his face. Chrissie had seen this many a time before. The frustrated actions meant he was definitely pissed, and who could blame him?

The small woman looked to the men surrounding her and sure enough frustrated showed on all their faces.

"Yeah, only if he doesn't get picked up by his own Wehrmacht first and then thrown back into circulation." Reiben walked up to stand in front of the Miller. "Captain, you just let the enemy go."

"This is such bullshit." Mellish shook his head watching the Kraut stumble away.

"I second that." Chrissie agreed, still watching Reiben closely. She knew him like the back of her hand, he would always do or say something he would regret when he was angry and it was her job as his best friend to prevent him from being the world's biggest idiot.

"Bullshit?" Upham asked. "This is bullshit? Shooting prisoners is OK?"

"Hey! Why don't you keep your voice down, Corporal? Remember your place." Chrissie snapped. She was sick and tired of his opinions of right and wrong. This was a war. Right and wrong didn't exist.

"My place?" Upham laughed bitterly. "You think that you're better than me now, just because you carry a gun and kill people?"

Chrissie stared at the small man, eyes narrowed. He'd finally found some balls. Only he'd picked the wrong person to start on.

"Shut your mouth!" Reiben barked stepping down protectively in front of Chrissie, who pulled herself around his frame. She didn't need protecting from someone as scrawny as Upham.

Jealously bubbled through Jackson's veins as he observed the scene in front of him. He should be the one defending his girl, but Reiben had beaten him too it and he was just standing around like a missing piece.

"It's against the goddamn rules!" Upham shouted throwing his hands in the air.

"Yeah, well the goddamn rules just walked off with you and your friend." Reiben snapped back his patience wearing thin. "But, I guess that was the, uh, decent thing to do, huh, Captain?"

Miller looked directly at Reiben and then to the figure stumbling in the distance. "Get your gear, let's go."

Chrissie fidgeted awkwardly as no-one moved. "You heard him, gear up." Horvath reinforced the order. "The Captain just gave you an order."

"Yeah," Reiben mused. "Like the one you gave to take this machine gun. That was a real doozie, wasn't it Sarge."

"Soldier, you are way outta line."

"Yes, sir, that was one hell of a call coming to take this nest." Reiben continued. "But, what the hell, we only lost one of our guys going for it. So I hope Mamma Ryan's happy, knowing that little Jimmy's life is fucking more important than two of our guys!"

"Richard, don't." Chrissie warned her voice low. She attempted to pull him away, but he just shrugged her off.

"But then again, we haven't found him yet, have we? Have we?" Reiben shouted, he'd snapped and Horvath knew it was time to intervene, pushing the Brooklyn native to the ground.

"Get the fuck off me!"

"Reiben, get up." Horvath ordered, Chrissie drew closer to the two men who had squared up. "Gear up. Fall in."

Reiben eyed the Captain and shot a glance to Chrissie before collecting his rifle. "I'm done with this mission."

Chrissie went to grab him but found herself being restrained by Jackson, his strong hands gently but firmly holding the tops of her arms. He looked down sadly at her. "Leave it, sweetie."

"Hey!" Horvath shouted running after Reiben as Chrissie pulled away from Jackson violently and followed the two men. Jackson let out a breath of annoyance as he ran after Chrissie.

"Don't you walk away from your Captain." Horvath caught up with Reiben. "Reiben, get back in line."

"No, sir." Reiben's voice was unusually calm and that made Chrissie anxious as she reached the men. "I'll spend the rest of my life in the stockade if I have to, but I'm done."

"I won't ask you again, soldier." Horvath pulled his hand gun from his belt and Chrissie lurched forward.

"Stop it!" She screamed standing between the two men. "Just stop it!"

"Lewis, move." Horvath ordered.

"Jackson! What the hell?" Reiben shouted pushing Chrissie towards the blonde man. "Get her outta here."

"No!" Chrissie screamed, slapping Reiben. "Why do this? It's not helping anyone! Not you, not me, not Wade or Carparzo! What is the point in arguing?" The squad was silent as they watched their smallest member attack Reiben who grabbed her wrists and handed her to Jackson.

"Don't fucking let go of her."

Jackson secured his arm tightly around her small frame as she thrashed against him.

"Jackson, please." Chrissie looked up at him. "Let me go. He won't hurt me." Jackson avoided her looking into her eyes, knowing he could never deny her anything. Her eyes were his weakness. Instead he focused back on the argument in front of him.

"I'm going to shot you because I don't like you." Horvath threatened.

"No!" Chrissie screamed and resumed her wriggling. Jackson ignored her, tightening his arms and looked over his shoulder, the Captain was oblivious.

"If he wants to go, just let him go." Jackson tried to reason with the two men. "Sir, we have a situation here you might want to get in on."

"You didn't shoot that son of a bitch Kraut, but you're going to shoot me, huh?" Reiben asked.

Chrissie had enough. "Jackson, Jackson, baby. Let me speak to the Captain." She pulled his head around to look at him and he reluctantly nodded slowly, his eyes on Reiben and Horvath.

Chrissie ran up to the Captain, still with Jackson who had a tight hold encase she tried to leg it to Reiben. "Captain, captain!" Chrissie ran in front of Miller and grabbed him. "You've got to do something. He'll shoot him."

Miller seemed oblivious to every word Chrissie; her eyes searched his blank face. "Please, Captain. I can't lose you all."

Miller looked at the soldier in front of him, who once again appeared so child-like and innocent in his eyes and then surveyed the on-going screaming match below.

"Captain, please." Chrissie begged tears obstructing her vision.

"What's the pool on me up to?" Miller asked.

"What?" Chrissie whispered feeling extremely confusing.

"YOU ARE A COWARD SON OF A BITCH!" Horvath screamed.

"Mike?" Miller asked calmly, making him look at his Captain. "What's the pool on me up to now?"

The squad fell silent.

"What... what's it up to? What is it, 300$? Is that it? 300$?" Miller asked, looking around. "I'm a school teacher. I teach English composition in this little town called Addley, Pennsylvania. The last 11 years, I've been at Thomas Alva Edison High School. I was the coach of the baseball team in the spring time."

The soldiers exchanged surprised glances as Miller told his story. Chrissie settled as she saw Horvath and Reiben look at each other without glaring and she moved to settle into Jackson's welcoming embrace.

"Back home, when I'd tell people what I do for a living, they'd think 'that figures'. But over here it's a... it's a big mystery. So I guess I've changed some. Sometimes I wonder if I've changed so much that my wife won't even be able to recognise me whenever I manage to get back to her. And how I'll ever be able to tell her about days like today."

Jackson pressed a soft kiss to Chrissie's hair as Miller paused in his story telling. "Ah... Ryan. I don't know anything about Ryan. I don't care. The man means nothing to me. It's just a name. But if coming to Ramelle and finding him so he can go home, if that earns me the right to get back to my wife, well then... then, that's my mission."

Miller walked down to where Reiben was standing. "You want to leave? You want to go off and fight the war? All right. All right, I won't stop you. I'll even put in the paperwork. I just know that every man I kill, the father away from home I feel." Miller took once last look at his squad before turning towards the makeshift graves. The squad watched him lift a body and they slowly wandered their way up to help him with an increased amount of respect for the man they called their Captain.

Chrissie stopped by Reiben, "It's ok, you go on." She told Jackson, sending him a sweet smile. His eyes flickered to Reiben and back to Chrissie before he nodded and gave her a chaste kiss before joining the Captain.

Reiben watched the Captain, but was aware of the presence beside him. The sweet smell of the person filling his head. "Please don't leave me." Her voice came out as a strangled whisper, hand small land grasped his. He looked down at the one person he would do anything for; she was looking away tears filling her eyes.

He softly held her face between his rough hands, using his thumb pads to wipe the tears away. "I will never leave you."

Chrissie looked into his eyes and saw the complete sincerity that shone there; she smiled and hugged him tightly. "Good," she sighed contently. "And if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'll rip your balls off and shove them down your throat."

Reiben cringed withdrawing and watched with amazement as she skipped up to the rest of the squad.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 – One Decent Thing**

Chrissie wandered quietly at the back of the squad, they had long left the site at which Wade was buried and she was exhausted. Emotionally and physically exhausted. Mellish sang quietly beside her breaking the silence.

"Half-track! Cover!" Miller broke her from her daydream as Mellish pulled her to the ground, hiding in the long grass.

The Germans rolled through the field noisily and Chrissie jumped when a shot was fired.

"Who's doing the shooting?" Horvath asked. "Who's doing the shooting?"

Another bang and smoke erupted from the vehicle, the German soldiers scrambling out giving the squad their target. Within a minute the squad were the only ones left standing.

"Take their left flank!"

"Hold on, make sure their down!" Mellish warned, crawling alongside Chrissie. Miller surveyed the bodies quickly before rising to his feet, his soldiers following closing behind him. Miller shot the remaining Krauts quickly checking the area.

"101st! We're coming out!" A distant voice called. Three men appeared from the grass, moving swiftly to Miller. "That was a recon element, second SS. We've been expecting a probe, that must've been it."

As Miller introduced himself Jackson moved over to Chrissie as they checked the burning vehicle.

"You ok?" He asked, cupping her cheek.

"Yeah, no. I don't know, Jackson. Everything's going wrong. I just want to find Ryan and get the hell outta here. I wanna go home, I want to marry you and have loads of babies." She sighed and he embraced her small body tightly. "I just want to go home."

"I know, baby. I know."

Reiben tried to focus on the Captain's conversation in front of him, instead of eavesdropping on the two love-sick puppies behind him. He rolled his eyes as Jackson asked her if she was ok. Of course she wasn't bloody ok! Fucking idiot! Two of her friends had been killed and they were on what seemed mission impossible to find some random soldier.

"James Francis Ryan?" Miller asked.

"Yes, sir. How'd you guess that?"

Reiben smiled. "Yo, Chris. Look's like your wish has come true."

Jackson scowled at Reiben for listening in on their conversation and then continued to glare at him as Chrissie bounced over excitedly to his side. Reiben threw his arm around her small shoulders and drew her into him, smirking at Jackson, whose jaw clenched tightly.

"You're Ryan? Seriously?" She exclaimed smiling widely.

Ryan was silent as he stared at the girl who looked like she'd just one a prize. What confused him was that the rest of the squad behind her looked ready to shot him. What had he done to make them so angry?

Miller stepped forward. "I think we should go back to your base. We'll explain everything there."

The squad walked quietly behind their Captain through the derelict town. Chrissie was leaning into Jackson's side, his arm around her waist as she walked lazily beside him. Miller was upfront with the man who seemed to be in charge of the other soldiers, listening to his story. There was no commanding officer here. These soldiers were doing there best and fighting blind without a leader. Chrissie shuddered at the thought of losing the Captain, as distant as he could be he cared about them. He was the glue that held them all together, kept them strong and working as a team.

They came upon a bridge and the squad took this time to rest their legs as Miller continued talking. Jackson jumped up to sit on the ledge pulling Chrissie to rest in between his legs. She turned to face him, pressing her mouth softly against his and wrapping her arms tightly around him.

Reiben frowned at the couple and snorted in disgust, until a sharp pain shot through his temple.

"Hey! What the fuck, man!" Reiben snapped.

Mellish shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "Wouldn't want wrinkles on that pretty face of yours from all that frowning, now would we?"

Reiben glared before looking at the ground, ignoring everyone around him.

Chrissie watched sadly as Miller told Ryan the devastating news. She snuggled further into Jackson, holding him tightly.

"Corporal Henderson... I don't mean to leave you even more short-handed, but orders are orders. Is there any communication about when you're going to be relieved up here?"

"Sir, there is no way to tell. I mean, we have no idea what's happened south." Henderson ran his hand over his face.

"I have my orders, too." Ryan piped up. "And they don't include me abandoning my post."

"I understand that," Miller sighed turning to face the young soldier. "But this changes things."

"I don't see how this does, sir." Ryan shot back.

"The Chief of Staff for the United States Army says it does."

"Sir," Henderson walked to stand next to Ryan. "Our orders are to hold this bridge at all costs. The 82nd have taken out every bridge across the Merderet with the exception of two, one at Valognes and here. If we let the Germans take 'em, we'll have to displace."

Miller looked at the two soldiers stood before him before walking up to Ryan. "Private, your outfit wants to stay, but your party's over here."

"Sir, I can't leave until reinforcements..." Ryan started to protest before Miller cut him off sharply.

"You've got three minutes to gather your gear."

"Sir, what about them!" Chrissie sighed as Ryan protested again. He wasn't making this easy. "There's barley enough of..."

"Hey, asshole!" Reiben shouted, striding forward. "Two of our guys already died trying to find you, all right?" Chrissie watched Ryan closely, seeing his expression change rapidly from surprised to sadness.

"Sir?" He turned to Miller."

"That's right."

Ryan moved toward the small squad with a sympathetic look. "What were their names?"

"Irwin Wade and Adrian Caparzo." Mellish told him.

"Wade and..." Ryan trailed.

"Caparzo." Reiben snapped at the smaller man earning a jab in the ribs and a glare from the small woman beside him. Horvath sniggered quietly watching Reiben flinch away from her.

Ryan stared for a moment before turning away, whispering into the air.

"It doesn't make any sense, sir. Why? Why do I deserve to go?" Ryan voice raised another level, frustration lacing his tone. "Why not any of these guys? They all fought just as hard as me!"

"Is that what they're supposed to tell your mother?" Miller spoke calmly. Jackson cringed; the Captain was getting desperate, pulling the 'mother' card. Talk about a guilt trip. "When they send her another folded American flag?"

Ryan contemplated Miller's words quietly. "Tell her that when you found me, I was here with the only brothers I have left and that there was no way I was going to desert them. I think she'll understand that." Ryan walked past the Captain. "There's no way I'm leaving this bridge."

Reiben twitched angrily watching Ryan walk off, but didn't say anything. He just clenched his jaw tightly and stormed off. Chrissie watched sadly, moving to follow him but Jackson pulled her back to him and locked his arms around her small frame.

"Leave him be." He told her resting his chin onto her head. "Let me cool off before you go telling him off."

Chrissie pulled back. "I wasn't going to tell him off." Jackson raised his eyebrows questioningly. "All right, so maybe I was going to tell him to be a bit more thoughtful. The poor guy has just found out that his brothers are dead. As annoying as he is, he's entitled to be a little emotional right now."

"We lost brothers too," Mellish reminded her from his position on the ground. Chrissie looked down, finding his eyes.

"Yeah, we have and we've got through because we've had each other. I know I would have lost it if I didn't have your guys love and support. These soldiers are the only family Ryan has left. I wouldn't want to leave you guys here, so why would he?"

The squad mulled quietly over Chrissie's statement. "You're too bloody thoughtful for your own good," Jackson told her. "Now I feel even sorrier for the poor guy."

Mellish just stared at the sky with a blank expression.

Horvath ran over the bridge to catch up with the Captain. "What are your orders?"

"Sergeant, we have crossed some strange boundary here. The world has taken a turn for the surreal."

"Clearly," Horvath agreed. "But the question still stands."

"I don't know, what do you think?"

"You don't wanna know what I think."

"No, Mike, I do." Miller sat down heavily against a wall of sandbags.

"Well," Horvath started, "Part of me thinks the kids right. What has he done to deserve this? If he wants to stay here, then fine, let's leave him and go home."

Miller nodded. "Yeah."

Horvath could tell Miller wasn't happy with that idea. "But another part of me thinks... what if by some miracle we stay and actually make it out of here? Some day we might look back on this and decide that saving Private Ryan was the one decent thing we were able to pull out of this whole God-awful, shitty mess."

Miller turned to look at his squad and then his eyes locked on Ryan.

"Oh, brother."


	13. Chapter 13

**Well hello! Long time, no speak. Sorry for my absense, I'm a terrible author! In truth I had forgotten about this little beauty until a review came through my email last night. So thanks go to CalaisForever for reminding me and inspiring me to start writing this again. My email goes through to my phone, so I actually got this in the early hours of the morning and I coudln't sleep after reading it so I started writing! Bear with me if things are a bit sticky, it will probably take me a few chapters to get back into the swing of it. I have some new ideas for the ending, well I have so many ideas I'm not sure which to chose and who to kill off! So I may post the ones I don't use seperatley after the story is finished. Not going to promise anything guys, because I usually break them! But I will try to keep updating reguarly. Hope you enjoy it! xxx**

**CHAPTER 13 – Surrender Your Socks **

Jackson watched as Chrissie dozed in his arms, her hair fluttering gently in the breeze. He traced light circles on her cheek, sighing in contentment. Chrissie stirred, squeezing her eyes shut tightly as the sun shone brightly.

"Did I miss anything?" She asked, sitting up and stretching.

"Nah," Jackson replied standing. "You've barley been out ten minutes."

Chrissie looked around at her fellow squad members and her eyes focused on Miller and Horvath as they approached the group.

"We've made a decision." Miller told them. "We're staying in Ramelle. We'll help defend the bridge and then we'll take Ryan home."

"What?" Reiben exclaimed jumping up. "That's bullshit! The orders were to bring the fucker home."

"Reiben." Horvath growled.

"No," Chrissie interrupted standing to join the men, Jackson stood carefully behind her holding her shoulders. "Richard's got a point for once."

"Its not up for discussion."

"Captain, it's practically suicide." Chrissie shrugged Jackson off and walked up close to the Captain to talk in a lower tone. "We haven't got enough ammo left."

"The others will have some."

"Even if they do," Chrissie looked around, dropping her voice lower. "We don't have nearly enough men to fight them. This is the most important bridge to them at the moment, they're not going to send any ordinary squad. They'll have weapons, lots of them. You know this."

Miller scratched his head looking at the soliders in front of him. He grasped Chrissie's arm and pulled her further from the group.

"Chrissie, these are the orders. I thought I could trust you to follow them, no questions asked."

"No questions asked? Of course I'm going to ask questions when my life is in danger."

"You're a soldier. You are constantly in danger. Look, what am I supposed to do Chrissie?" Miller sighed. "Shall we just leave now, tell them Ryan stayed with his squad and we left them to die? Is that what we tell them? Are we just going to leave them die?"

Chrissie bit her lip, remaining silent. It was suicide, but the Captain was right. They couldn't leave them hear to die.

"OK." Chrissie agreed. "What's the plan?"

Sharp eyes swept over the weapons laid on the table.

"This is everything. Got the two 30-calibre machine guns, seventeen grenades, eleven Hawkins mines. We've got the two bazookas, but they've only got eight rounds left, and assorted small arms."

"Its not enough." Chrissie whispered.

Horvath patted her gently. "It'll have to be."

"Might as well be spit wads if they roll up in tanks." Chrissie was still doubtful of Millers plan.

"Which they're sure to do." Horvath replied. "What you thinking, sir?"

Miller stared at the weapons, thoughts flying around his head. "Well..." He began walking out into the open. "I'm thinking they're going to try and whip around the flanks. Unless we can draw them up this main road here in between these buildings, where all the rubble makes a bit of a bottleneck."

"Disable him?" Ryan asked.

"If we can. Make that tank a 60-ton roadblock. We do that, we'll have a fighting chance."

"Yes, sir." The corporal agreed. "Don't let them split up, don't let them mass anywhere."

"Hit them hard as we can. One on one. Then fall back to the bridge."

"Machine gun on the move down here. Number two up high somewhere to piss down on their heads." Horvath suggested.

"The would be the idea." Miller scanned the area around him, evaluated the surrounding buildings. "Jackson. If we can, I'd like to get you up in that bell tower."

"Yes, sir."

"Give you a little company if you need it."

"Yes, sir. Some company couldn't hurt. I'd say a thirty with about a thousand rounds would be OK."

"Parker, job opportunity." The corporal shouted to a nearby soldier.

"Yeah, well its not the worst idea ever, Captain." Reiben said as he lazily leaned on Chrissie, who shoved him off whilst glaring playfully. "Its just that everything depends on us getting the tank up this main road for us to knock out, right? So how the hell do you plan on doing that?"

"Wow," Chrissie look shocked. "You've made another good point, Richie. Are you sure you're alright?"

Reiben poked his tongue out childishly before following Miller.

"Reiben's right." Horvath said. "As Chrissie pointed out what we got here are a bunch of spit wads, so how do we stop them tank if we get it to commit?"

"Give it a rabbit to chase." Miller motioned to some sort of vehicle. "We could hit the tank in the tracks."

"Yeah, but with what?"

"Well, we could try a sticky bomb."

"A sticky bomb, sir?" The surrounding soldiers looked at the Captain as if he had grown a second head.

"Sir, are you making that up?"

"No. Its in the field manual. You can check it out if you want to."

Jackson chuckled. "We seem to be out of field manuals, Sir. Perhaps you could enlighten us?"

"Right, you have some demolition don't you? Some TNT or composition B?" Miller asked.

A soldier stepped forward. "Yep, that Sir is what we have plenty of. I have that bridge wired with enough composition B to blow it twice."

"Right, you can spare some then." Miller headed towards the bridge, the group following behind. "You take a standard issue GI sock, cram it with as much comp B as it can hold. Rig up a fuse and you coat the whole thing with axel grease. That way when you through it, it should stick. A bomb that sticks, a sticky bomb. Come up with a better way to knock the tracks of the tank, I'm all ears."

"This is good." Reiben shook his head. "Now we've got to surrender our socks."

Chrissie chuckled and punched his arm gently as Reiben smiled brightly back.


End file.
